Due to a prior commitment, I arrive at the Superdome for the first day of the Essence Music Festival around 10 p.m., just in time for the close of Trey Songz’ set. He shouts out the ladies, then closes with the club anthem “Bottoms Up.” This climaxes with him ripping off his wife-beater to general [...]
Tag Archives: R&B
Keith Frank, Follow the Leader / Boot Up (Soulwood Records)
July 1, 2012 – 12:50 am
Similar to 2007s Undisputed—a double disc set with each disc featuring its own concept—Follow the Leader and Boot Up are also two distinct concept discs sold together as a set or separately depending on the demographic of the gig at hand. For longtime zydeco zealots, Boot Up is a great place to start, since it [...]
Albert King, I’ll Play the Blues For You (Stax Records)
July 1, 2012 – 12:43 am
Hard to believe this album first saw the light of day 40 years ago. While the title track has merit, and was a huge jukebox hit in blues territory, it was by no means the best track on the original album—and this is/was truly a landmark album. Written by Shreveport’s Jerry Beach, “I’ll Play the [...]
Sun Ra, The Eternal Myth Revealed: Volume One – 1914-1959 (Transparency Records)
July 1, 2012 – 12:40 am
Pianist, bandleader, arranger and Afro-Futurist Sun Ra was thought to be a decidedly non-mainstream figure in the jazz world as he directed his Arkestra throughout the last half of the 20th Century. This comprehensive collection traces Sun Ra’s work and influence beyond what has been recognized up until this time. Producer Michael D. Anderson, Sun [...]
Nasimiyu Knows the Rules Aren’t Real
June 27, 2012 – 9:13 pm
Photo by Jason Albus. Nasimiyu stands sweating shoulder-to-shoulder in a mass of dancing strangers, bouncing to the triumphant rhythm of trumpets, trombones, sousaphones and stomping feet as a gang of brass musicians march down weathered streets. She waves her arms in the air, releases any pinned-up anxieties, and lets the collective beat pulse through her [...]
YouTube du Jour: Aaron Neville
June 27, 2012 – 1:19 pm
One of New Orleans’ great voices, the falsetto king Aaron Neville, plays at House of Blues tonight. Neville has been singing professionally for over half-a-century now, recording his first single “Over You” in 1960 and scoring his first hit, “Tell It Like It Is” in 1966. After putting his solo career on hold to concentrate [...]
Beth McKee, Next to Nowhere (Swampgirl Records)
June 1, 2012 – 12:51 am
Beth McKee found her audience with 2010’s I’m That Way, a rich, jazz-flecked, soulful album of Bobby Charles tunes—a smart move, given Charles’ deep well of beloved and lesser-known material, With 2012’s Next to Nowhere, Beth McKee found her voice. The percolating accordion and swamp boogie shuffle of the title track speaks to her life [...]
Alabama Shakes, Boys & Girls (ATO Records)
June 1, 2012 – 12:48 am
The Alabama Shakes start with solid grounding, what the late great Lester Bangs called rudimentals. I’m struck especially by Heath Fogg’s guitar, with its liquid twang in lower registers and snapped-off sharp pings further up, like he’s tinking a wrench against one of those old-style milk bottles. The band co-produced this, their debut long player, [...]
Voodoo Music & Arts Experience Headliners Announced: Green Day, Neil Young, Skrillex & Others
May 15, 2012 – 5:49 pm
The initial 2012 Voodoo Music and Arts Experience presented by Stephen Rehage lineup was announced today and it includes Green Day, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Skrillex, Justice, Tomahawk, AWOLNATION, K’Naan, Say Anything, Bootsy Collins, Gary Clark Jr. and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The 14th-annual festival will take place Friday, October 26 through Sunday, [...]
The Iguanas, Sin to Sin (PFAM Records)
May 1, 2012 – 12:54 am
After playing to crowded clubs for the better part of two decades, the Iguanas have likely witnessed a good sin or two. Sin to Sin, their first disc in four years, is loosely thematic, to suit its title. The rockers “You Make Me Sick” and “Won’t Sit Down” seem drawn from the more colorful conversations [...]
